Isaac vance



I. VANCE.

POTATO BIGGER.

(No Model.}

Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

UNITE STATES PATENT OrrIcE.

ISAAC VANCE, O1 \VASHIN iTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

POTATO-DIGGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,363, dated March 12, 1889.

Application filed September 1'7, 1888. Serial No. 285,638. (No model.)

To all whom it 111.11g col/corms Be it known that I, ISAAC YANFE, a citizen 3 of the United States, residing at \Vashington, in the county of \Yashington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved potato-digger; and it consists in a shovel placed at an angle at the forward portion of the machine and a suitable number of parallel separators at the rear, together with certain other details of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved potato-digger constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the eccentric wheels, used for giving the sections of the separator a quick vertical or shaking motion. Fig. 4 is an end sectional elevation of one of the sections of the separator, showing the manner in which the eccentric wheels are secured therein. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the lower extremity of one of the hangers, showing the shovel-groove.

To put my invention into practice, I provide a frame, a, of suitable size and form of construction, and attach thereto two down wardly projecting hangers, b, capable, by means of a series of bolt-holes, c, of being adjusted to any required angle with the frame, and thereby give to a shovel, d, secured at the lower extremities of the hangers b, a greater or less inclination. This shovel d is rigidly secured between the two hangers l) by means of a groove, e, formed on the lower in- 7 ner face of the same, (see Fig. 5,) and are further secured in place by one or more trans verse bolts, f. At the rear and lower portion of these hangers b is a downwardly-projecting lug, h, to which hinged a series of bars, i, which. constitute a separating de- Each of these sections or bars t is vice.

provided with and supported by a small wheel, 9, arranged eccentrically at the base of the same, which, when the machine is in motion, give to the sections 1' a rapid vertical motion, thereby separating the potatoes and earth which are discharged from the shovel (1 onto the same. To the forward end of the frame a is secured a hook, 7;, or other means for attaching a horse to the machine.

In operation this machine is used in the same manner as an ordinary plow. The shovel d, lifting the earth and potatoes and depositing the same upon the separator, the bars '11 of which are moving rapidly and in an uneven manner up and down, which motion breaks the earth, which drops through the spaces between the sections 1', and the potatoes roll to either side or drop off at the rear ends of the separator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In combination with a potato-digger such as described, the separator consisting of a se ries of bars or sections, t, hinged at their forward end and each supported by a small wheel, g, arranged eccentrically in a manner that when the machine is in motion each section i is given a rapid vertical motion, as and for the purpose described.

9. In a potato-digger, the combination,with a shovel, of aseparator consisting,essentially, of a series of horizontal bars hung at their forward ends beneath the rear end of the shovel, and each having a ground-wheel eccentrically hung thereon, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a potato-digger, the combination of the depending hangers, an inclined shovel fixed thereto, and a series of horizontal bars arranged side by side and pivoted at their forward ends in the hangers beneath the rear end of the shovel, each of said bars having a ground-wheel eccentrically hung thereto for reciprocating said bars at irregular intervals in vertical planes, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto aiiix my signature this 3d day of August, A. D. 1888.

ISAAC VANCE.

in presence of M. E. HARRISON, LEE. 

